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Culture > News

Hillary Clinton Can’t Campaign in California Because She Has Pneumonia

Hillary Clinton and her campaign team canceled an upcoming trip to California after pneumonia symptoms nearly caused the presidential nominee to faint during a 9/11 memorial ceremony on Sunday, Reuters reports.


According to Reuters, Clinton was first diagnosed with the condition on Friday. She scheduled an appointment with Dr. Lisa Bardack to check up on the coughing episodes she’d been experiencing. Dr. Bardack concluded that Clinton’s cough was caused by pneumonia, so she prescribed an antibiotic and encouraged her to work periods of rest into her otherwise pretty relentless schedule.

In spite of Dr. Bardack’s diagnosis, the Guardian reports that Clinton chose to attend a Manhattan-based 9/11 memorial ceremony on Sunday. Though the ceremony centered on remembering the victims of the attacks, focus quickly shifted following Clinton’s abrupt exit about 90 minutes after arriving.

CNN reports that even people within the Clinton campaign didn’t know she had pneumonia until Sunday. As this incident follows several conspiracy theories about Clinton’s health, people close to the campaign told CNN that she may have to release more medical records and address the public’s concerns about her physical ability to serve as president.

The New York Times took a look at what a pneumonia diagnosis means for Clinton. Because she’s 68 years old and, as the source reports, those at or above age 65 may have a more difficult time recovering from the illness, deciding to forgo her west-coast fundraising events was likely the best move.

Megan Sawey is a senior advertising major at Temple University. She maintains deep passions for puns, distance running, hula hooping and peanut butter. Originally from the woods of Western Pennsylvania, Megan now resides and writes in Philadelphia. You can find her on www.megansawey.com and www.girlslife.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @sanseysawey.